Providence Transformed
by Durins Bane
Summary: Naruto and Team 7 are on a mission to detain a "special" target, as per orders of the Hokage. Alas, not everything goes as planned. Time period before the Naruto and the Sasuke final fight. Possible NaruSaku. Planned to be continued fic.


A/N: This story is not owned or copyrighted by myself (characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto), but if you want to use it, as flattered as I would be (I doubt anyone would do this), please get my permission first. This is my first fan fiction, so please leave a review so that I can make it better. I enjoy criticism! Also, there might be some places where you won't understand what's going on, like who the "target" is. This is on purpose.

Without further ado, here's my fully original story:

* * *

Naruto's ear clicked and a slightly muffled voice came over the comm channel.

"Kitsune, this is Shiro. Are you in position? Over."

Naruto's lean body noiselessly crept through the shrubbery as he cautiously moved into position towards his target.

"Kitsune in position, over."

Naruto and the rest of Team 7 had been assigned a particularly unusual target two weeks ago. He, Sakura, and Sasuke had all stationed themselves in strategic positions around said target. They were currently awaiting orders to strike and capture the target, supposedly a ninja, from Kakashi-sensei.

Kakashi-sensei currently had his Sharingan out and was watching over their positions, Naruto knew. His overall objective was to complete the mission without a hitch. Of course, Naruto figured that Kakashi-sensei had some sort of backup plan if they were to fail. Why wouldn't he? They had spent the last few days simply tracking their target.

The pursuit of said target had proven strenuous for most of the team, especially Sakura. While Naruto proved to have the endurance of an ox and Sasuke's pride would not allow him to succumb to the fatigue, both of them were were still exhausted. Suffice to say, all of Team 7 but Kakashi-sensei had spent their energy on the way here.

The man, or thing, or whatever it was, had finally stopped to quickly devour a meal. His pack was lying on the ground to his left, and he was currently sitting cross-legged for some type of meditation.

It was for that reason that Kakashi-sensei had chosen now to strike. Past experience told Naruto that meditation was not always as it seemed, but he knew that Kakashi-sensei knew what he was doing. He **had** pulled them out of stickier situations before. Plus, the members of Team 7 were simply genin. How could Naruto even hope to know more than _Kakashi_?

More comm chatter flooded Naruto's ears, bringing him back to the present. Kakashi-sensei's voice alerted him of the danger.

"Naruto, go, go, go, or our target will escape!...Naruto!...Naruto!!!"

Naruto quickly brought his kunai out to attacking position before charging the ninja. By now, Sasuke and Sakura were trading blows with the ninja. Naruto's sharp ears could pick up the familiar clang of metal hitting metal.

As Naruto quickly covered the distance to the ninja, he noticed the familiar glint of steel underneath the shinobi's flowing cape. Racking his mind to remember what such a thing would be doing on the target's person, Naruto's mind finally clicked in recognition.

His face twisting into a contortion of surprise and shock, Naruto screamed, "He's got a katana!"

The target had already drawn the weapon and brought it down in a sweeping arc towards Sasuke, the familiar blue hue of chakra glowing on the blade.

Sasuke had his kunai drawn and in a position so that the blow would neither diverge from its goal nor cause him harm... or so he thought.

Both blades hit and a chink of breaking metal could be heard, echoing through the forest. The katana made a clean cut through the kunai. The swish of the blade meeting flesh and bone sounded for a split second before the familiar splash of blood resonated.

Sasuke's body fell backwards with a thud, the katana continuing its death march towards Sakura's midsection when a clash of metal sounded.

"What do we have here? Could you just possibly be the son of the White Fang, Hatake Kakashi?" a voice behind the hooded face inquired nonchalantly.

Kakashi-sensei began barking out orders, ignoring the man in question, "Sakura, start giving Sasuke some treatment! Naruto, you run to the nearest town and _get a medic_!"

Kakashi-sensei's voice broke the stunned silence that had befallen both Naruto and Sakura, and they both scrambled to the task they had been given.

The shinobi grew impatient from being ignored by Kakashi-sensei, "Do not ignore me, boy. Your efforts are futile. That _child_ will die of blood loss within minutes. Your student is **dead**, Kakashi of the Sharingan."

Naruto began running towards the nearest town before he was stopped by their target so quickly from Kakashi-sensei to himself that he was sure even Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan could not follow it.

"You will not be leaving either, boy. Give in to the despair and desolation! Wait a minute, what do we have here? It's the container box for the Kyubi, how cute. Despair is something you can and **will** learn, boy. The holder of the Kyubi surely must know that, no?"

Naruto felt like he wasn't even there, like his corporeal form was watching his body perform movements outside of his control.

...Wait. What was he doing? He could not give in! Not while Sasuke was dying. He had to stand tall and fight!

Naruto let anger flood his body. His blood began to boil as the shinobi watched with stark amusement. Naruto's whiskers widened to deep red scars. While his pupils slid into slits, the blue hue of his eyes changed to a crimson color, blinding his vision in hazy scarlet. Sharpened claws grew out of Naruto's fingernails, his canines lengthened, and a furious dark chakra bathed his body in a bloody substance.

Naruto shrieked into the sky and charged the target. His cape flowing with the wind, the shinobi lazily sidestepped Naruto, beating his head into the earth with a simple flick of his wrist.

Naruto, even more enraged, back flipped back onto solid ground. His spiky hair waved around with a jerky survey of his surroundings as he searched for the ninja.

"Ha ha, boy, where are you looking? Did you think that such an effortless chakra could defeat **me**? Fool, your feeble brain could not even imagine the intricacies or magnitude of my colossal power. Weakling."

The shinobi spun around to Naruto's front and lazily touched a finger to his forehead. Naruto slumped to the ground, unconscious. Before he went under, Naruto could have sworn that the target's body disappeared into thin air.


End file.
